Case Number 18158: Small Claims Court

BEYOND THE SEA (DVD/CD)

The Charge

In the era of cool, Bobby Darin was the soundtrack.

The Case

It took a long time for the story of Bobby Darin to make it to the big
screen. Planning for a Bobby Darin biopic began all the way back in 1987, and as
the project changed, evolved, fell off the radar and swooped back on again, it
attracted and lost a wide variety of showbiz folks including Bruce Willis, Barry
Levinson, Paul Schrader, Leonardo DiCaprio, and James Toback. At long last, the
project fell into the hands of Kevin Spacey, who had been eager to be involved
with the film ever since hearing about it. Spacey had been a huge fan of Darin's
music when he was growing up, and was excited by the prospect of helping bring
it to life in a film.

The problem was this: by the time the movie was filming in 2004, Spacey was
44 years old, which was older than Darin ever lived to be and considerably older
than Darin was in his prime. The studios were hesitant about letting Spacey play
the role; they wanted someone younger. Still, Spacey was intent on making his
dream project come alive, and equally intent on playing the title role himself.
The film debuted to rather disappointing reviews, with some criticizing the
movie's awkward structure and others taking shots at Spacey's seeming vanity in
playing Darin himself.

No, Beyond the Sea isn't one of the great music biopics (it compares
rather unfavorably to Ray, which came out the same year), but it is a
very compelling one that tells the Bobby Darin story in an intriguing way. The
film opens with Darin on a movie set, shooting a movie about his own life.
"You're too old to play the part," someone says, in a clear reference
to Spacey's acceptance of the role. "How can you be too old to play
yourself?" Bobby's manager (Bob Hoskins, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?)
says reassuringly. Then Bobby meets the kid playing the young version of Bobby
in the movie, and they wander off on a trail of distant memories, mixing and
matching the details of Darin's life into a fantastical, semi-chronological
musical ride.

This effect works, because we don't feel that we're watching a dramatized
account of Bobby Darin's life so much as we're watching a dramatization of a
dramatization of Bobby Darin's life. On that odd metatextual level, the film
works well enough, buoyed along by a never-ending supply of genuinely terrific
music. Even by musical biopic standards, Beyond the Sea contains an awful
lot of songs, filling up a good 50% of the running time with singing and
dancing. All of this is done so well and with such energetic flair; it becomes
fairly easy to forgive the dramatic moments that wobble a bit.

Spacey sings all of the songs himself, and though he doesn't sound entirely
like Darin, he has a terrific singing voice, so it's all good. I refer you again
to the metatextual nature of this thing. Though the soundtrack is dominated by
the sort of swinging standards that Darin is known for ("Mack the
Knife," "Artificial Flowers," "Beyond the Sea,"
"Charade," etc.), we also get a little bit of his early rock n' roll
stuff ("Splish-Splash") and some of the stuff from his late-era career
as a political activist ("Come and Sing a Simple Song of Freedom").
Spacey handles it all with aplomb, looking genuinely enthralled to have the
opportunity to sink his teeth into these memorable numbers. In fact, he enjoyed
performing the songs so much that the release of the film was accompanied by a
concert tour of Spacey performing Darin tunes.

Dramatically, the first half of the film works better than the second, as it
focuses on Darin's emerging career and his relationship with Sandra Dee. As
portrayed in the film, Darin seems to have been an impulsive risk-taker from
start to finish, which worked considerably better for him earlier than it did
later. He became a rock n' roll star, then turned his back on rock n' roll to
sing increasingly outdated standards. He was told that marriage to a teenage
girl would be a foolish move, but he married Sandra Dee anyway. He even leapt
into the field of acting and earned an Oscar nomination for his role in
Captain Newman, M.D.. The film breezes through these events with a joyful
energy, but when it enters the more troubled part of Darin's life (when his
career tanked, his health got worse and his marriage started faltering), it
becomes slightly sluggish and aimless. Too much time is spent on Darin's
soul-searching, as the film never really manages to give us much additional
insight into his life during that era other than, "he was upset because
things were so bad."

The supporting cast is okay, but honestly I feel like most of the supporting
players have too little to do. Bob Hoskins' role primarily consists of giving
Darin words of support and affirmation, which doesn't really seem quite worthy
of an actor of Hoskins' talent. John Goodman mysteriously vanishes for a pretty
good chunk of the film, never really getting to do anything too interesting.
Brenda Blethyn also has too little screen time to make a big impression as
Bobby's mother. The only supporting player who really gets a substantial part is
Bosworth, who proves convincing and capable as Sandra Dee. It's not a great
performance; but it's a solid one.

The disc is more or less exactly the same as the one released a few years
ago, containing the exact same extras (a commentary with Spacey and producer
Arthur Friedman, a making-of featurette and a handful of interviews) and what
seems to be the exact same transfer. The only new addition to this set is the
compilation CD being included with all of these "Music Makers" DVD
releases, containing songs by Darin, Sammy Davis Jr. and a few others.

While it's easy to view Beyond the Sea through a jaded lens, those
willing to submit to its charms will be in for a fun yet flawed look at the life
and music of Bobby Darin. Worth a rental, though this new set doesn't offer
anything new of value.